Apparatus for making game-balls.



No. 807,436. -PATBNTBD DEC. 19, 1905. A. L. BURT.

APPARATUS FOR MAKING GAME BALLS.

APPLICATION FILED DEG. s. 1901.

witwassen nvnto@ ALONZO L. BURT, OF MILBURN, NEW JERSEY.

APPARATUS FOR MAKING GAIVIEBALLS Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 19, 1905.

Application filed December 5, 1901. Serial No. 84,750.

To all whom it puny concern.-

Be it known that l, ALONZO L. BURT, a citi- Zen of the United States,and a resident of Milburn, Essex county, State ofNew Jersey, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for MakingGame-Balls,of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to apparatus for makingygame-balls, such aspool-balls, and has for its object to provide means whereby the ballsmay be obtained quickly and made of a homogeneous character-that is,each part of the ball will undergo substantially the same treatment.

The invention will be fully described hereinafter and the features ofnovelty pointed out in the appended claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, in which-- Figure lis an elevation, partly in section, of a mold constructed according tomy invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of an apparatus in connectionwith which my improved mold may be used; and Fig. 3 shows the sameapparatus and mold with dies of a different shape, as will be fullyexplained hereinafter.

My improved mold consists of a cylindrical hollow body A, open at bothends and provided, preferably at its center, with transverse apertureslocated vat diametrically opposite points and extending from the bore Aof the body to the outside thereof. These apertures, as shown, arescrew-threaded and are adapted to receive plugs having smoothcylindrical ends B, adapted to project into the bore of the mold-body,screw-threaded portions B', and outer heads B2, by means of which theplugs may be moved in or out. It will be understood that the plugs arethus movable, so that they may be projected into the bore A or withdrawntherefrom. This mold is adapted for use in conjunction with a press orset of dies of any suitable construction, and it will be understood thatthe construction shown in Figs. 2 and 3 is only an example of such pressand does not in its details form any part of my present invention. Asillustrated in said figures, the mold-body A is stationary and isconnected with arms O, in which is formed a bearing C for ascrew-spindle D, provided with an operating-wheel D. The

The thread of greater pitch engages a bearing or nut E2 upon a frame E,which is guided along the arms C, so that it can slide thereon, butcannot turn. The frame E has a cross-bar E, on which the lower die isadapted to be supported, while the spindleD presses against the upperdie. It will be understood that by screwing the spindle D inward theupper die and the lower die will be forced toward each other, eachhaving a movement of the same extent.

In operation the apparatus is used as follows: The lower die F is firstinserted alone, and the cavity or bore A' of the mold is filled withloose material G. It will be understood that the die F is first in itslowermost position with its stop fiush with the bottom of the mold. Theloose material employed by me is plastic material of any suitablecomposition. The dies F F', which I employ in the first stage of mymanufacture, have cup-shaped or spherically-curved recesses on theirinner surfaces surrounded by annular plane surfaces. After the mold hasbeen filled, as described, the ends B of the plugs being within themold, as shown in Fig. 2, the upper die F' is placed on top of the loosematerial and the handwheel D/ is turned so as to force the dies evenlytoward each other. The result will be a firmly-compressed body or coreof plastic material, such as indicated by the letter Gl in Fig. 3, whichcore consists of a cylindrical portion with spherically-curved knobs orcaps projecting therefrom at the ends. This body is held in its centralposition by the ends B of the plugs, so that it will not drop when thedies F F are moved outwardly. This operation being completed, the dies FF are withdrawn and a lower die H of a somewhat different form is placedon the cross-bar E in such a manner that the upper end of said die willbe flush with the lower end of the mold. A suitable amount of loosematerial G2 is inserted between the core G and the lower die H and alike quantity of loose material G3 is put on top of the core G. The diesH H are cylindrical, with spherical recesses in their ends, saidrecesses being of much larger diameter than those of the dies F F andextending almost to the outer edges of the dies. When the dies H H aremoved toward each other, the loose material G2 G3 will be pressed into asolid body, which will be united with the core G sufficiently to enablethe ball roughly formed in this manner to be further handled in theusual way. After the dies H H have been removed from the mold thecompressed IOO IIO

ball, consisting of the core G and two spherically-curved end pieces,will be withdrawn from the mold by simply screwing the plugs outwarduntil they release the-core G and then pushing the ball out of the moldend- Wise. These compressing processes are carried out while thematerial is in a cold state, and therefore without destroying thevaluable property of the material to become more firmly united by theapplication of heat. The end portions B of the plugs serve not only tohold the core G in its central position, but principally to formrecesses in said core which will be adapted to receive the spots whichare used in game-balls of this character. These spots are formed in theusual manner by compression from material of the same nature as theremainder of the ball and are then inserted in the recesses of the coreG. Thus the ball consists of live pieces-namely, the core G', the twoend pieces G2 G3, and the two spots. Each of these pieces has beenformed by compression in the cold state without the application of heat.Finally, the roughly-formed ball is compacted and baked by theapplication of heat and pressure in the usual manner.

I desire it to be understood that I make no claim in this applicationtoy the particular form of press and dies shown herein; but

What I do claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,is-

l. A mold comprising a tubular body open at both ends for the entranceof dies, and provided between its ends with transversely-movable plugshaving ends adapted to extend into the bore of the tubular body and toengage a mass of plastic compressible material. and retain the sametherein.

2. A mold comprisinga tubular body open at both ends and providedbetween its ends with diametrically-opposed oriiices perpendicular tothe axis of said tubular body, and plugs movable transversely in saidorifices and adapted to extend into the interior of said tubular bodyand to engage a mass of plastic compressible material placed therein andto retain the same in a fixed position.

3. As means for producing the central, or core-like portion-of thecomposition ball, a tubular or female mold or die, provided withdiametrically opposite, movable core-plugL the ends of which may be setto protrude within bore of the hollow die, to produce in the moldingoperation cavities to receive number inserts, and capable of'beingwithdrawn from within the bore of said die at pleasure; also a pair ofmale dies adapted to enter the opposite ends of the said female die, andto mold or compress into shape the central core-like portion of theball, as hereinbefore specified; the whole arranged and operating sothat after the molding of said central portion of the ball, the coreswhich produce the cavities for the inserts may be withdrawn from saidcavities, and the molded ball portion then withdrawn from the mold, allsubstantially as and for the purposes hereinbefore set forth.

4. As means for molding a pool-ball, the combination, with a tubular orfemale die having radially-movable core-plugs, of two pairs of maledies, one pair of which is adapted to form, in conjunction with thecore-plugs, the middle portion of the ball with cavities to receiveinserts, and the other pair of which is adapted to form segmental bodyportions and compress them upon said middle portion, substantially asdescribed.

ALONZO L. BURT. Witnesses:

WILLIAM H. HoYT, JOHN LoTKA.

